The Last of Us - When Worlds Collide
by J. W. Richmond
Summary: He'd been brought here from England at age 5. Now, 16 year old Firefly Tyler Harrington's hit squad has been tasked with taking down Ellie. Will Tyler survive the journey to find her? How will Ellie react when he gets there? Rated M for language and sexual references. First fanfic, please be nice.
1. The Fireflies Advance

Tyler Harrington lay on the bed and looked at his surroundings. A dark, dingy-looking warehouse somewhere just outside of Wyoming. There was a box truck on the other side of the room, with garage doors surrounding the wall.

He looked down at the file in his hands. He had been contracted to bring in the target unharmed. He reread the file over and over. He was nervous, he'd heard things about this girl. The amount of Fireflies she's killed. The amount of infected she's slain. Oh yeah, and the fact that she's immune to the cordyceps virus. He stared at her picture for a few seconds. Tyler concluded that she was too pretty to be _that_ dangerous. He looked over the file one last time and stashed it in his backpack.

* * *

Name: Ellie Williams

Age: 15

Possible Location: Jackson County

Notes: IMMUNE TO THE CORDYCEPS VIRUS.

Possible dangers: Known to be good friends with Joel, Maria and Tommy Miller. Incredible survival skills for someone of her age. Will stop at nothing to save the ones she loves. Exercise extreme caution.

* * *

'Harrington!' He heard a familiar voice bark. He looked up sharply to see Harrison Abel, a fearsome Firefly general. The elder brother of Riley Abel, he blames Ellie for her death.

'Abel! What do you want?' Tyler jokingly yelled back.

'This is no time for mocking! Are you ready to avenge those lost?' Harrison replied in a rage, 'This is for Marlene!'

'I know, I know. I was just taking the piss, chill out.'

'Well there ain't no time for that now. We've gottta roll out. You ready, soldier?'

'Yeah, I'm ready to kick some Williams butt!' Tyler said a little too enthusiastically.

'You sure?'

'Yeah. Well, not really.'

'Ok, I get where you're comin' from. Everyone's first big mission is hard. And you make sure all you're doin' to that butt is kickin', boy.'

'Woah, Jesus, Harry! She's the target!' Tyler called back disgustedly.

'I know, I'm just fuckin' with you. Now let's get out and get it done.'

'Wait, just us two? I know we're short on men, but that's a small-ass skeleton crew.'

'Who said it was just us? Come on, boys!' Harrison shouted as 30 firefly soldiers marched through the open garage door.

'In the truck! Let's move it, MOVE IT, MOVE IT! You ride shotgun with me, Ty. I mean that literally, here's a shotgun should you need one.'

Tyler took the shotgun and slung it into a holster alongside his backpack. The soldiers piled into the back of the box-truck as Harrison climbed into the cab. It was going to be a long-ass trip.

As Tyler slept in the cab of the truck he dreamed about what Harrison had said. He found himself dreaming of Ellie, dreaming of her picture. He dreamed what would happen if she decided to join the fireflies. No, never in a million years. He dreamed about her face, her beautiful face, her-

'TYLER WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DREAMING ABOUT?' Harrison screamed in his ear. 'You sounded like you DO want to do somethin' else to that Williams butt.'

'Wh-what…?' Tyler said in a groggy, half-asleep slur. 'I was just, just dreaming of…', he quickly formulated something to say. 'Stuff. 'N' Thangs.'

'That's great then. Still, it's about time you hit puberty, Harrington.' Harrison said with the biggest grin on his face.

'Yeah, fuck you too…' Tyler said as he drifted back off to sleep.


	2. New Friends (Or Enemies)

Tyler awoke to the sound the truck's brakes screeching it to a halt.

'Glad to see you're finally awake, Ty,' Harrison spoke with a hint of mock concern,

'And not dreaming of that Williams butt!'

'Yeah, it's more than I can handle anyway…' Tyler trailed off.

'Welp, you better get ready to handle it, because we're here!'

'Wait, already?'

'More or less. It's a few blocks away, but we found where they're holed up.'

'How? I thought all or intelligence agents were locked out.'

'We might have another, right here. You're lookin' at him.'

'No. How the hell d'you find that out?'

'Followed 'em. You think this is the first time I stopped us tonight? I've been out scouting since 9.'

'Awesome. We going then?'

'Damn right. It's a nice little basement, with nice little windows all around so we can look in on our nice little target.'

'Seems creepy…'

'Desperate times call for creepy measures.' Harrison leered in a mock British accent.

'Yeah fuck you too. Let's get out there. We bringing any backup?'

'Just us two, I'm afraid. It's just scouting, we won't get seen by anyone. There's no-one even around.'

'Alrighty then…'

10 Minutes Later…

Tyler crawled up to the window commando style, trying to stay as quiet as possible. He motioned to Harrison, who was a few metres behind. Harrison crawled up beside him and started peering in the window. Ellie was more beautiful in person, there's no mistaking that. Joel wasn't in the room. Ellie was lying on a couch, reading _Savage Starlight_. Her backpack was on the floor nearby. She got up from her seat and walked towards the kitchen area. Obviously annoyed at the lack of food, she walked lazily over to her backpack, bent down over it to stash her comic, leaving her rear pointing towards Tyler's window.

'There's no denying that view, right T?' Harrison whispered to him.

'For once I agree with you.' Tyler replied in mock happiness.

They continued to watch for a few more minutes until Tyler finally asked the burning question on his mind.

'What exactly are we watching for? I've been meaning to ask since we got here'

'Exits. Weaknesses. Hiding places. You should've asked when we got here instead of staring at some Williams butt.'

'Hey, fuck you, you sexualizing prick.' Tyler said a little too loudly.

'Man, pipe down, she'll here you!' Harrison replied in a loud whisper.

'Oh I've already heard you, boys!' came a shout from the inside.

'Wh-what the hell?' Tyler and Harrison both said in unison.

'Oh, you think you've been stealthy, huh?' they heard the voice of Joel Miller from behind as he whacked them in the back of the head with a plank of wood, knocking them out.

Ellie paced up and down the room nervously as Joel questioned the young Fireflies. She hoped that Joel didn't get too carried away. They _were _fireflies, but she tries to avoid casualties when possible. Joel's voice came floating down the hallway, and Ellie winced at the already violent nature of the 'conversation'.

'_Who fucking sent you?! Tell me who!'_ Joel's voice thundered down the hall.

'_Fireflies, man! We're fireflies!' _She heard the terrified screams of the two poor boys, unaware of the trouble they were in.

'_I fuckin' know that! I want names!'_

'_We don't know any! We do what lands on our desk!'_

'_Yeah, fuckin' heroes. Should we kill, you or are you gonna give us any info to spare your lives?'_

'Joel,' Ellie called down the hallway. 'Leave them alone. We could always take them with us!'

'_Hell no! What if they try anything?' _

'They won't! We'll keep 'em on a leash!'

'_Seriously? A leash? I mean what if they try and kill us?'_

'They won't. They'll know that will be… detrimental to their wellbeing.'

'_Good point, baby girl. Alright, you chickenshit fireflies, hand your weapons over to me, grab your packs and get ready to go. Also don't think your friends will help you, they have the slight problem of their truck being in a lake.'_

Ellie was amazed at how Joel could've gotten the truck into a lake, but quickly concluded that he was bluffing. She grabbed her pack, some rope and the rest of the canned food and walked into the room with Joel and the fireflies.

'We ready to go? What was your name again? Tyler wasn't it?'

'Yeah. Not that you really need to know. Joel here'll probably kill me before I get out the door.'

'He wouldn't do that, I wouldn't let him.'

'Don't believe that Ellie,' Joel said as he stashed the boy's weapons, 'and don't get _too _friendly with 'em.'

'Hey, you're the one who said I should try to make friends outside of Tommy's dam. That's all I'm doing!'

'Yeah, I suppose I'm just paranoid.'

The four of them headed for the door, with Joel at the front and Ellie at the back, ensuring they didn't try to run off. The moment they were on the street, Harrison bolted, running as fast as he could. He didn't get far until Joel pulled out his 9mm and place three shots on his spine.

'Jesus, Joel,' Ellie said condescendingly, 'at least try to conserve ammo!'

'Just makin' sure he didn't get back up. Go over there and check out his pack. I'll stay with this one to make sure he doesn't try the same thing.'

'No, sir, Joel sir, I-I-I…'

'Jeez, Joel, you scared the poor thing half to death!' Ellie called over as she heard Tyler stammering.

'You find anything?' Joel called back

'A pendant, of course, some food and- hell yeah! The only part of _Savage Starlight _I don't have!'

'You read that?' Tyler said as Ellie re-joined them, 'I thought I was the only one in this godforsaken wasteland.'

'See, Joel, it's not weird.' Ellie said to Joel as he shook his head,

'Great,' Joel remarked dryly, 'you share interests with a fuckin' firefly.'

'He isn't anymore, he's with us.'

'What makes you think he'll change?'

'Sir, may I please speak?' Tyler asked quietly.

'Very good Tyler, you may.' Joel said condescendingly.

'I'm willing to leave them. You mentioned a dam before? Tommy's dam? I'd quite like to go with you, if that's alright.'

'Yeah it's alright,' Ellie chimed in. 'give me your pendant.'

'Here.' Tyler whimpered as he handed over his pendant.

'Tyler Harrington, 67475. Interesting.' Ellie threw the pendant as high as she could, over buildings and alleyways. She didn't hear it hit the ground.

'There you are, Harrington. I don't know if I trust you yet, but I've got a good feeling.'

'Course you do, young Williams,' Joel said as he slapped the both of them on the back, 'we better start trustin', there's a little bit of a journey ahead of us. Come on, let's go.'

The three of them ventured to the end of the town, where Tyler chimed in and broke the silence,

'I-is it much further..? Sir..?'

'Jesus H Christ, you're weak. We've been walkin' for 10 minutes!'

'Leave him alone, Joel, he's still in shock from being whacked with a plank of wood.' Ellie brought in her opinion.

'Yeah, I suppose I should. C'mon, gang let's go.'

It warmed Tyler's heart a little to be called a part of the 'gang'. He didn't know if Joel was including him, but then, two people isn't really a gang. For the first time in ages, Tyler felt like he belonged.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks is due to the guest in the reviews, although I think I know you IRL. Thanks to others for leaving constructive critisism, I know this isn't perfect, but give me a little headway. Personal Info Time!: I'm 14, give me a break.**


	3. Not Thinking Straight

Ellie took a moment to think about Joel's plan. Phase 1. Find the firefly camp. Phase 2. Walk in the front door, pretending to be prisoners of Tyler. Phase 3. Once inside, find their records. Phase 4. Find the records for Tyler Harrington and Harrison Abel. Destroy them. Phase 5. Get out alive. Of course the hardest part. Ellie wasn't even sure that she trusted Tyler. Joel sure as hell didn't. She didn't know if he saw through the fake trust act in that basement. She hoped that she wouldn't actually end up trusting this guy. Joel doesn't usually trust anyone he hasn't met before, let alone a firefly-turned-goodguy. '_Maybe, when all this is said and done, when we're absolutely sure we can trust Tyler, he can come and live with us in Tommy's dam. No, Tommy'd never trust an ex-firefly. Maria'd probably shoot him_.' Ellie thought to herself.

'You okay there, baby girl?' Joel called from across the room, in a loud but sincere voice.

'Yeah, I'm just… thinking,' Ellie replied quietly, 'What happens if we _can_ trust this guy? I mean after the mission?'

'Well… we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, if we take him back to the dam Maria'd shoot him.'

'Exactly what I was thinking. Let's go. We're gonna be late.'

'Good point. Where do we find the location of their HQ?'

'That's the issue. I don't know. I s'pose, we could ask Tyler.'

'Really? What if he walks us into an ambush? How do we know we can trust him?'

'We **don't**,' Joel said firmly, the conversation getting a little more heated, 'we've just gotta… take a chance.'

'If you couldn't trust me, I wouldn't be here,' Came Tyler's unmistakeable accent from the doorway, 'I'd be in the same place as Abel.'

'Look, Tyler,' Ellie quickly chimed in, ready to diffuse the situation, 'we can trust you!'

'How do you know that, Miss Williams?'

'Look,' Joel said loudly but calmly, 'we trust you. We need to trust you. You just need to prove that we can trust you.'

'How the bloody hell am I to do that?'

'Find us the information we need. Find us the firefly HQ.'

'Easy. I was trained there, taught there, essentially raised there. Hospital in Austin's the main base of operations. The entire HQ extends all around the city.'

'Austin. I-I can't fuckin' go back to Austin. No. Too many bad memories there.'

'Joel, it's where we have to-' Ellie started but was immediately interrupted,

'No! I'm not fuckin'…' Joel yelled in a rage as he stormed out of the room.

'Joel!'

'He usually does this?' Tyler asked warily,

'No. No, whenever you ask him about his past he just avoids the question. He's never been asked to go back and face it.'

'What happened to him there? If you don't mind me asking.'

'It was his hometown before the infection hit. His daughter Sarah was killed there. I don't know how, I don't know why, he's a little shaky with the details. All I know is, that night, he lost everything.'

'What happened between then and now?'

'I don't know what happened after Austin, before I met him, but once I did meet him… We've had some crazy adventures.'

'Please, tell me more.'

'No. We've gotta find him. C'mon, Ty, let's go.'

Tyler finally felt safe around Ellie. She trusted him enough to call him by the name only his friends called him. He found himself staring into her eyes, those big green eyes, those beautiful big green eyes…

'Ty! Don't zone out on me like that!' Ellie snapped, annoyed, 'I don't care what you're feeling for me, but It'll never happen. You'll be a friend at the very least. Now let's fucking go.'

Tyler sighed to himself. The friendzone was better than nothing out here.

'Yeah. We should go find him.'

The two of them set out to find Joel. They walked a 100 metre circle around the house they came from, but found nothing until they decided to return to base. Joel was sitting in an armchair in the middle of the living room, covered in blood. He looked like he'd been in a fight. He had a black eye and was missing a tooth.

'Bandits,' He said quietly as they walked in. 'I found some bandits. They were gonna raid the place. They won't be raidin' anything now.'

'Joel! What happened?' Ellie said, slightly scared.

'I found some bandits,' Joel said more firmly this time. 'I found some bandits. They jumped me. I ripped their goddamn heads off. Not literally.'

'Are you hurt?' Ellie was panicking now.

'You should've seen the other guys.'

'What happened to them?' Tyler butted in quietly.

'I bashed their goddamn skulls in. Literally this time. One of them I left alive. Told him to scurry back to the rest of 'em and tell his story.'

'Why? Do you want them to come after us?' Ellie asked, annoyed.

'I'm sorry. I… I wasn't thinking straight.'

'Obviously. We should bunk down for the night.'

'No. They'll be here. We need to get going.'

'I thought you said-'

'I know what I said. I've just gotta… get over it. C'mon, we're headin' out Texas way.'

As Joel said that the three of them all grabbed their packs and headed out the door, heading towards the way out of the city. The walls from when it was still a QZ remained, serving as barriers from the infected. But, as always, there was infected inside the walls. But infected weren't the only thing they had to worry about. Not bandits, either. As Joel, Ellie and Tyler made their way toward the gates, they were unaware that they were being watched. One of the firefly soldiers from the truck remained, following the three survivors. '_Think you can get rid of me that easy?' _The soldier thought to himself. _'Oh yeah, I'm you're worst nightmare… I am the knight in the shadows…' _He found himself saying this out loud, and he heard a voice from behind him.

'Don't talk yourself up, pretty boy,' the unknown voice said as he plunged a blade through his back. 'I'm **your** worst nightmare. Now, where are these poor little bastards going? They're damn lucky they've got me.'

As he finished his monologue, the assassin took the soldier's pendant and set off in the shadows, following the trio of survivors. Watching for any danger unseen by them. He was their guardian angel.


End file.
